it? You want something more.” The realization dawning on his face stripped her, left her feeling exposed.
Billie hesitated, her heart stampeding in her chest. “I couldn’t stand the thought of losing this article. But the way I ended up here, sitting in your apartment…it feels wrong. I’m sorry for following you, for invading your privacy.” She glanced at his fingers, strong, tanned, curled around her pale wrist. “I’m leaving now.”
He released her. She reached the door and opened it just in time for him to say,
“Wait, Billie.”
Her palm went damp on the doorknob, her gaze fixed on the floral arrangement across the hall. It filled the air with the sweet scent of roses, cloying, eau de funeral home .
Maybe fresh flowers in stuffy apartment hallways weren’t such a luxury.
“Don’t go.” His voice grew closer, his tennis shoes thudding softly on the teak entry behind her.
“Why not?” A sudden, irrational urge to cry choked her. “My job is on the line here.
Maybe I’ll just anger you more and you’ll call Nora. She’d have my head if she knew about this, believe me. So why risk it?”
The heat from his body soaked her back. “I can’t think of a single reason,” he said against her hair. “Just…stay.” One hand crept around her waist, fingers splayed across her stomach, a needful, plaintive gesture. “One of the companions at Avalon died.”
“I know.” She found herself leaning back against his hard body as heat coiled tightly in her middle. “Your friend.”
“Azure called him Lucien, so that’s how the world knew him. But his real name was Luke.” He paused, his fingers flexing against her stomach. “He killed himself.”
“It’s terrible. I’m so sorry.”
His body tensed behind her. “The police thought I had something to do with it.”
Billie turned to look at him. “Did you?”
“No.” His troubled gaze wandered over her face. Then he dipped his head and caught her lips in a soft, clinging kiss. One of the sweetest Billie had ever been offered.
One of the most erotic.
When he withdrew, she swallowed and said, “Why did you do that?”
“Because you looked like you believed me when I told you I had nothing to do with Lucien’s death.” He stepped back. “Will you stay for a while? I’d like your company.”
An odd and earnest request, one she couldn’t deny. Wordlessly she stepped into the foyer and waited while he closed the door again. He retrieved the grocery bags from the console, handed her one and led the way to a galley kitchen with granite countertops and sleek, brushed-steel appliances.
“There’s a wine rack in the pantry,” he said, unpacking groceries as she withdrew the bottle of Chardonnay from the bag.
Billie opened the folding door he’d indicated and slid the bottle into the iron rack, her heart trip-hammering in her chest. She hadn’t stood in a man’s kitchen and helped 56
The Fifth Favor
put away groceries in a long, long time. There was something excruciatingly intimate about it.
They worked in silence. Billie opened a few cabinets before she found where he kept the canned goods, put away the rest of the items in the bag, and then turned to watch him. He looked different than the sleek, seductive figure she’d met at Avalon.
Maybe it was his casual attire; maybe it was the unhappiness that lined his face. But he seemed younger. Less formidable.
He closed the pantry and gazed at her. “Thanks for your help.” Then he motioned toward the living room and she followed him to the sofa, where they sat as before. The tension between them stretched taut and painful, having nothing to do with anger anymore.
“Tell me about Lucien,” she said.
57
Shelby Reed
Chapter Seven
“We were college roommates,” Adrian said, his dark head resting against the back of the beige leather sofa. “He was a physics major, brilliant but lawless. He could sniff out excitement, pursued it like a full-time job. When he started
Billie hesitated, her heart stampeding in her chest. “I couldn’t stand the thought of losing this article. But the way I ended up here, sitting in your apartment…it feels wrong. I’m sorry for following you, for invading your privacy.” She glanced at his fingers, strong, tanned, curled around her pale wrist. “I’m leaving now.”
He released her. She reached the door and opened it just in time for him to say,
“Wait, Billie.”
Her palm went damp on the doorknob, her gaze fixed on the floral arrangement across the hall. It filled the air with the sweet scent of roses, cloying, eau de funeral home .
Maybe fresh flowers in stuffy apartment hallways weren’t such a luxury.
“Don’t go.” His voice grew closer, his tennis shoes thudding softly on the teak entry behind her.
“Why not?” A sudden, irrational urge to cry choked her. “My job is on the line here.
Maybe I’ll just anger you more and you’ll call Nora. She’d have my head if she knew about this, believe me. So why risk it?”
The heat from his body soaked her back. “I can’t think of a single reason,” he said against her hair. “Just…stay.” One hand crept around her waist, fingers splayed across her stomach, a needful, plaintive gesture. “One of the companions at Avalon died.”
“I know.” She found herself leaning back against his hard body as heat coiled tightly in her middle. “Your friend.”
“Azure called him Lucien, so that’s how the world knew him. But his real name was Luke.” He paused, his fingers flexing against her stomach. “He killed himself.”
“It’s terrible. I’m so sorry.”
His body tensed behind her. “The police thought I had something to do with it.”
Billie turned to look at him. “Did you?”
“No.” His troubled gaze wandered over her face. Then he dipped his head and caught her lips in a soft, clinging kiss. One of the sweetest Billie had ever been offered.
One of the most erotic.
When he withdrew, she swallowed and said, “Why did you do that?”
“Because you looked like you believed me when I told you I had nothing to do with Lucien’s death.” He stepped back. “Will you stay for a while? I’d like your company.”
An odd and earnest request, one she couldn’t deny. Wordlessly she stepped into the foyer and waited while he closed the door again. He retrieved the grocery bags from the console, handed her one and led the way to a galley kitchen with granite countertops and sleek, brushed-steel appliances.
“There’s a wine rack in the pantry,” he said, unpacking groceries as she withdrew the bottle of Chardonnay from the bag.
Billie opened the folding door he’d indicated and slid the bottle into the iron rack, her heart trip-hammering in her chest. She hadn’t stood in a man’s kitchen and helped 56
The Fifth Favor
put away groceries in a long, long time. There was something excruciatingly intimate about it.
They worked in silence. Billie opened a few cabinets before she found where he kept the canned goods, put away the rest of the items in the bag, and then turned to watch him. He looked different than the sleek, seductive figure she’d met at Avalon.
Maybe it was his casual attire; maybe it was the unhappiness that lined his face. But he seemed younger. Less formidable.
He closed the pantry and gazed at her. “Thanks for your help.” Then he motioned toward the living room and she followed him to the sofa, where they sat as before. The tension between them stretched taut and painful, having nothing to do with anger anymore.
“Tell me about Lucien,” she said.
57
Shelby Reed
Chapter Seven
“We were college roommates,” Adrian said, his dark head resting against the back of the beige leather sofa. “He was a physics major, brilliant but lawless. He could sniff out excitement, pursued it like a full-time job. When he started
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